Behind the Scenes

Belle Andrews is a movie star. She attends award ceremonies, dresses up for the red carpet, and best of all: stars as the leading lady in the new film, "The Haunted Hour." But what happens when Belle is forced into a media deal she never planned? To make matters worse, she is relocated to the small farm town of River Heights to film her new movie. But in River Heights, will Belle discover the real Belle Andrews?

6. Scene 5

I hated her.

Right from the moment we entered the room, and I saw her standing there, microphone in hand, her hair done up in a professional bun, I knew this interview would be awful.

And now, here we sat across from her, in the most uncomfortable of chairs, getting ready to answer questions about the movie. Fun. As she flipped through the index cards in her hands, Will exchanged a look with me.

Ready? His eyes seemed to ask.

As ready as I'll ever be, mine replied, giving an eye roll, and then looking back to the interviewer, who was now looking right at us.

"Ready?" The director asked. We all nodded. "Cameras rolling, and action."

"I'm here today with the stars of Dream Soul, the new film about a country singer ready to make her dreams come true. Rosa, played by Belle Andrews," I waved as I was cued. "and Tommy, played by Will Reese," He waved to the camera also. "have a romantic connection in the movie. Can you tell us about that, Will?"

Will smiled bashfully and took my hand. "As you may know, Sarah," He winked at the interviewer and I suddenly wondered when he'd gotten her name. "Belle and I have just come clean about our relationship together, so the chemistry between Rosa and Tommy isn't really forced at all. Though it is kind of sad that we only have one scene as boyfriend and girlfriend in the film." Will pulled a puppy face and looked at me.

I pouted in reply. "It is sad."

"And what's it like to be able to spend more time as coworkers and less as boyfriend/girlfriend, Belle?" Sarah asked me, fixing her perfect business suit. It fitted just right, accentuating every aspect of her body that was shaped just right.

I bit my lip and answered the question. "It's definitely fun to have my boyfriend on set, and it's even better to be able to work together. We spend an equal amount of time as coworkers as we do boyfriend/girlfriend, because we love to keep some time for ourselves." Will nodded in agreement.

"Now, I'm not sure if any other channel has released this picture, but one of our photographers caught it just this afternoon, I believe." Sarah gestured to the screen behind her. Projected was a picture of Finn, the farmer I'd met at the grocery store, holding me by my waist, making the photo look scandalous and racy. I watched Will's eyes turn dark.

"What do you have to say about this picture, Belle?" Sarah asked, smiling like the bitch she knew she was being.

I smiled. "Oh, he's just a--a friend." I replied, trying to be as casual with my response as I could.

"Really? Will, what do you have to say about this?" Sarah pried, and I really wished she hadn't.

"I think he needs to get his hands off my woman," Will joked, making Sarah laugh annoyingly. "But really, I know Finn personally, he's a great guy."

He surprised me by how he had remembered Finn's name, and I covered up my shock with a loving smile. "They really get on well," I added, squeezing Will's hand.

Sarah smiled in return, a sort of angry smile, and I realized we hadn't created the drama she'd wanted for her show. "Well, one final question before we wrap this up," She flipped through an index card. "Belle," I fidgeted when she addressed me. "you rarely ever speak of your family in interviews, but we wanted to ask you about the person in your family that helped you to realize acting was your passion. Who was that person for you, Belle?"

I bit my lip. "No one. I discovered acting on my own, my family wasn't interested in it. I'm in this as an individual, Sarah. No family strings attached." I looked at the floor after answering, hoping they'd decide not to edit that part in. I could already picture what Tom would say: don't let them see into you, Belle. Keep your privacy, maintain your mysteriousness. Let your fans guess, it keeps them entertained. His voice echoed through my head, giving me a headache.

"And that's it for today folks, thanks for chatting with us, and we'll see you next week! Bye!" Sarah waved to the camera and we followed her example.

"Cut!" The director called out. "Beautiful, you are all done for today."

Will and I exited together, without a word. I wanted to talk to him about Finn, I'd never really gotten his take on the whole situation. And now, with him covering for me in the interview today, I was even more confused.

"Look, Will," I started once we had been taken back to the hotel. We sat in our hotel room, the one we were forced to share, him on the couch, me on the floor. "I know this whole Finn thing has been taking a toll on the both of us and," I stopped, watching his expression. There was nothing. He simply looked at the ceiling, silent. "and I wanted to know if you wanted to talk about it."

"No." Will answered shortly. "No I do not." He looked at me now. "I want to film this movie, maintain our reputations and then be done with this relationship. It means nothing to me, and it obviously means nothing to you, so the sooner we can just break up, the better."

I froze, stung by his words. "Will, I-- I don't understand--" I stammered, unable to speak.

"That's exactly it, Belle. We don't need to understand this whole thing. We don't need to understand why we have to date, we need to do it. We don't have to understand why the media thinks that Finn is your boyfriend, we have to fix it." He exhaled, annoyed. "You don't have to understand everything, Belle, we just have to do it."

Then he got up and walked past me into the bedroom. He didn't emerge the rest of the night, leaving me alone to eat dinner, and leaving me alone on the couch at night.